science

Neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s cost the U-S billions of dollars each year. Last year, a study supported by the National Institutes of Health found that in 2010, the cost of treating Alzheimer’s alone neared $215-billion.

Restoring sight to the blind and visually impaired has long been thought of as more in the realm of science fiction than actual science. But Roger Pontz of Reed City, Michigan would beg to differ. Diagnosed with a degenerative eye disease as a teenager, Pontz was almost completely blind until last January, when he became just the fourth person in the United States to have a device called the Argus II implanted.

A new documentary called “Particle Fever” will be screened by the East Lansing Film Society tomorrow night. It’s the story of the Large Hadron Collider and the search for the Higgs Boson. The East Lansing Film Society will screen “Particle Fever” tomorrow night at the Studio C! Theatres in Okemos.

The Michigan State University Science Festival continues through this weekend. A familiar voice will speak at Kellogg Center as part of the festival: Robert Krulwich. Current State’s Melissa Benmark spoke with him earlier this week.

This year MSU’s Abrams Planetarium is celebrating 50 years. To mark the milestone the Planetarium's original star projector is being resembled by one of the original staffers. Current State’s Emanuele Berry spoke with John Hare, who worked at Abrams nearly 50 years ago.

This is a big day at Michigan State University for one of the biggest projects in mid-Michigan. A host of dignitaries are formally breaking ground at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, commonly known as FRIB.

Last week, NASA announced its latest findings from the Kepler mission. Kepler is a space telescope that was launched in 2009 to look for habitable planets. Current State’s Emanuele Berry sat down with Michigan State University astronomer Megan Danahue to learn more.

Despite all those studies that show America’s education system lagging further behind in the world, it turns out all is not lost when it comes our collective knowledge about science and technology.

A portion of a big national survey released late last week measured the public perceptions of science and technology and compared the data to similar studies around the world. The results show that while Americans, like much of the rest of the world, still have some basic things to learn, there is a keen interest in the latest scientific and technological discoveries.

Big data is being applied across a broad spectrum of disciplines. Businesses are using it to forecast consumers trends, political junkies to predict elections before they happen and scientist are decoding DNA in minutes, working to find cures and prevent disease.

How do you make science fun and approachable for youth? One theory is to use hip hop. The project Science Genius BATTLES (Bring Attention to Transforming Teaching, Learning and Engagement in Science) attempts to do that.

This week we learned that the new appropriations bill drafted in the U-S Senate includes $55-million to continue the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) project at Michigan State University. The project will feature a large particle collider that smashes subatomic matter together to create elements that scientists say are the building blocks of the universe as we know it.

The self-destruction of the comet ISON captured the public imagination last week, as it passed between our planet and the sun. The mystery of outer space has enthralled humanity for centuries. Now, Michigan State University is taking a giant leap into inner space.

Astronomers have found another black hole within a densely packed cluster of stars. Last year, an MSU lead research team discovered two black holes in a similar globular star cluster, suggesting that black holes occupying groups of dense stars may be more common than previously thought.

Achieving nuclear fusion has proven to be elusive for generations of scientists. According to the BBC, American scientists have brought us one step closer to nuclear fusion's becoming a viable source of clean energy.